Please do not kill anybody! its just a figure of speech.... What I mean is, to learn from those you admire, those who inspire; those that you aspire to be like and to be better than them at what they do

This post kind of goes back to an earlier post about finding your own style and being unique among a billion photographers. 
I've thought about this a lot and I've read about it a lot too. I've seen a lot of articles that will tell you not to copy the work of others... I don't understand this and say BULLSHIT!

Every photographer from every style/genre of photography has copied to some extent the work of others. The masters of photography of our time have all killed their master. They were all inspired by the work of another..... they studied their work and then began to produce better work. 

Who are my inspirations?

I've been inspired by many photographers since i started my journey. but really there are two that really stick out for me.

My biggest inspiration in portrait photography is Ryan Muirhead, I've mentioned him before and you may have heard of him before.

Ryan is a US based photographer and his work is.... well its amazing....  better than that in fact.
My last post I briefly touched on making a connection with your subject.... This is something learnt from Ryan.... His work you can clearly see there is a connection between photographer and model and it shouts out to you in the work they create. His portraits all have a feeling to them, emotion, that little something that really catches your attention. 

Check his work out here http://ryanmuirhead.com

For the projects I am currently working on, I have been hugely inspired by David Alan Harvey.

David Alarm Harvey is a magnum photographer based in the USA and has produced many books and assignments. I'd call him a documentary photographer (I could be wrong but its how I'd describe it). His work again like ryan is amazing. What I love most about David Alan Harvey is him as a person.  The amount of information he gives people (on instagram stories) alone is amazing and a great help to anyone. I would love to be able to one day go to the US and take one his workshops... It would be a life changing experience. Check out his work and books, just incredible.

www.davidalanharvey.com

To sum this up.... If there is someone who inspires you.... Work you aspire to create.... Get out there and do it.... Everyone in this world has been and are inspired by people before them... If they say they aren't then I think they talking.... I could rant about a lot of stuff the big name websites say and advise etc but that I think I will save for another day so stay tuned for that :)

Get out... shoot... Dream Big and you can achieve and be who you want to be!

Cheers!